Final Thoughts on Cion

I am not sure which direction I am going in with the final paper in terms of whether I will defend or argue against Cion as the common reader selection. I have some good points for each side so I know whichever one I choose can be supported. If I defend it, I will talk about the fact that it talks about Ohio University, the Athens community, and its surroundings and background. This is beneficial for incoming freshmen because they have a chance to learn about more than just the university, but the region in which they are going off to school and its past. On the other hand, I thought Cion was an odd book and I did not really enjoy reading it. If I argued against Cion as the common reader, it will probably be stronger argument because of my personal take after reading the book and my dislike for the book. I'm not sure yet if I will focus on meta-fiction and magical realism and the movie Stranger Than Fiction. Also, what are the page requirements for our final paper?

Writing Prompts for Cion

According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sciolist, the word sciolist refers to "an amateur who engages in an an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge."
Also, I found from http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-sci1.htm that the word comes from verb scire, to know. "The immediate Latin original was the diminutive sciolus, a person who had only a smattering of knowledge. The related noun is sciolism, the practice of giving one’s opinions on subjects of which one has only superficial knowledge." When I came across the word sciolist in the text, I had no idea what it meant. If it is true that Zakes Mda is the sciolist in Cion, his appearance in the novel is like that of a storyteller, but not in a good way. I don't really like that he is referred to as the sciolist, it just makes me more confused about what is going on in Cion.

I would like to watch a movie about magical realism and/or meta fiction. I think it would help us all further grasp these concepts and make our final papers a whole lot easier to write. Cion slightly confuses me, so I think watching something relating to Cion would definitely be helpful.

Response to the assignment

I feel like I did okay on this assignment. I'm a little worried because I fear that my paper may be more informative than argumentative. But, I wanted the reader to know about my argument and get some background knowledge on my topic, which is why I decided to go into a lot of detail with explaining my subject. I wanted the facts concerning my thesis to support the argument I was trying to make and I think I did a good job with that.

Thesis: Those who work in public relations must have the ability to protect the reputation of the organization, company, or individual they are representing, but still be honest and open with the public.


I think that maintaining a balance between ethics and being a good publicist for whoever or whatever you are representing is essential for success. Publicists and the public as a whole should both care about this topic. Publicists must care about who or what they are representing and the public's view of whoever or whatever that is. Also, the public must have trust in these organizations, companies, individuals. In order for the public not to be betrayed or misguided, workers in the field of public relations have to do their best job at making sure the organization, company, or individual is presented accurately. I am arguing that people who work with public relation's can still make this happen by building trust with the public and serving their employer fairly. However, I do realize that sometimes the whole truth may not be very pretty. This does not mean that blatantly lying to the public or covering information up is acceptable. What it may mean is the public relation's specialist does what they think is right for everyone involved.

Response to David Foster Wallace's Commencement Speech

This speech affects my view of college in the sense that what we choose to study and get a degree in will be what we have when we graduate and are plunged into the "real world." However, in addition to learning about our specific field of study, we must also know much more about life and people. Being educated is not just about the major we pick. It is also about the way we think about everything else as well. I liked a lot of parts of this speech where he talked about awareness of others and coming to terms with the fact that we are not the center of the universe. People must be acknowledge that everyone has their own problems to face and that we must not be so selfish and self-centered. I also liked when he talked about "freedom" in the real world and how having freedom in our minds can allow us to better our lives and not be so burdened with boredom or routine. I did not really like the part when he talked about different things that people worship and how they can cause death (figuratively) and that what you worship "will eat you alive." I do not agree with that statement because I think that there can be positive outcomes as a result of worship. For example, worshipping a certain religion can cause you to lead a life filled with compassion and concern for others. It will not necessarily "consume us," it may just be something we place a lot of importance on.

First blog assignment

I personally liked the article "There is No Unmarked Woman" by Deborah Tannen. I liked how she described each woman's ensemble in great detail from their makeup down to what kind of shoes they were wearing. Then, going on to compare their whole appearance to that of the eight men. This emphasized the point she was trying to make with the "marked" versus "unmarked" argument. Women are marked by how they choose to present themselves, whereas men lack many options in the professional world in terms of expressing themselves or "saying something" through what they look like. I thought this was the strongest part of Tannen's article because it depicted the exact point she was trying to make, that women are "marked." Another strong point of this article was when Tannen was describing titles. She says, "Checking 'Ms.' declines to let on about marriage (checking 'Mr.' declines nothing since nothing was asked)." This illustrates her point further because men do not have to worry about answering questions regarding their title, because it is not marked. However, women are subject to questioning through their title, whatever it may be. I thought a weak part of this article was Tannen's description of Ralph Fasold's points made in his book. I do not think it was necessary to include the parts about the insects and reproduction because the article focused on women in our society and how they are "marked," not on insects. I did not see the relevance in that. I think the main point in this article is that women are judged and analyzed much more meticulously than men are.